ICC U-19 World Cup: 5 memorable moments from the tournament

West Indies defeated India in the final of the tournamentAnother edition of the ICC U19 World Cup came to an end, with the West Indies beating India by five wickets in a lop-sided final. Every two years, the tournament presents to the world future stars of the game.The teams made uncharacteristically low scores in this year’s tournament, and the 300-run mark was breached only five times in the 19-day tournament. There were several memorable moments from this year’s junior-World Cup, which was spread over five venues in Bangladesh. Here are a few:

#1 Sandeep Lamichhanes hattrick

Lamicchane rocked Ireland and eased Nepal’s route to the final eight of the tournament

Sandeep Lamicchane considers Shane Warne as his idol. Looking at his bowling repertoire, he more than matches his idol, as far as variety is concerned. Lamichhane took the only hat-trick of the tournament, which was part of his five-wicket haul that resulted in Nepal’s win against Ireland, and secured their position in the final eight for the first time.

Hailing from the Chitwan district of Nepal, Lamichhane changed the direction of the game in the 32nd over, taking the wickets of Lorcan Tucker, Adam Dennison and Fiachra Tucker. His hat trick was the fifth in the Under-19 World Cups overall and was the second against Ireland after Bangladesh’s Kamrul Islam Rabbi took one in the 2010 edition.

Lamicchane ended with 14 wickets in this edition, the second-best after Namibia’s Fritz Coetzee.

#2 The Mankad

West Indies’ Paul used the infamous tactic to defeat Zimbabwe in a crunch match

In a do-or-die game against Zimbabwe, West Indies’ Keemo Paul created a stir with his mankading of Richard Ngarava which helped the eventual champions beat the African country by two runs. Opinion was divided, with some praising Paul for his presence of mind, while others bringing in the Spirit of the Game debate and questioning the legality of the dismissal.

With three runs needed off the last over, and with one wicket in hand, Keemo Paul broke his delivery stride to dismiss Richard Ngarava, whose bat was resting just outside the crease. Although the dismissal was performed within the rules of Cricket, the batsman had not been given prior warning, and the situation of the game made the dismissal heart-breaking from the batsman’s perspective.

West Indies went on to eventually win the trophy.

#3 Jack Burnhams three centuries

Burnham was the highest run-getter of the tournament

With three centuries in six matches, England’s Jack Burnham equaled the all-time tournament record of India’s current opener, Shikhar Dhawan. His assured batting on the slow, low Bangladeshi pitches reminded people of Alastair Cook’s similar exploits in the 2004 edition, where the latter had piled up 383 runs with two centuries in the subcontinent.

Burnham started with a century in England’s opening encounter against Fiji. That 148 was followed by a useful 44 against the eventual champions, West Indies. He followed it with an unbeaten 106, powering England to 288 against Zimbabwe.

In the penultimate match of England’s campaign, he struck a 123-ball 109, which resulted in a huge 203 run win over Namibia. However, his team could not go beyond the quarter-finals.

Burnham ended as the highest run-getter in the tournament, with 420 runs at an average of 84.

#4 Hasan Mohsins 117 and 4-42

Mohsin displayed his all round abilities against Nepal

It is remarkable that Mohsin was bowling leg-spin just a few months ago. On the advice of his coach, he turned to pace and has been a vital part of Pakistan U19’s bowling setup since then.

In the fifth-place playoff semi-final against Nepal, Mohsin came to his own. Overcoming his team’s shaky start, he slammed a 106-ball 117 to take his team to 258, a competitive score, considering the fact that there were only five-300 plus totals in this edition of the tournament.

If that was not all, he returned with figures of 4-42 in the same match, and Nepal was eventually bowled out for 136. Mohsin was the fourth highest run-getter in the tournament, with a remarkable average of 98. He also took 11 wickets from 6 matches.

#5 Sarfaraz Khans record

Sarfaraz racked up 355 runs in the tournament

India’s most established batsman and the youngest holder of a lucrative IPL deal, Sarfaraz Khan had a memorable second U19 World Cup, but just couldn’t take his team past the finish line. He, however, created history by becoming the record holder for most fifties in the competition overall.

He was the second highest run-getter in the tournament, racking up 355 runs with the help of five fifties from the six matches he played. He was unlucky to not convert his starts into big scores. Even in the finals, he scored a gutsy 89 ball 51, helping his team cross three-figures in the finals against West Indies.

He is now third on the list of highest run-getters in all editions of the tournament, behind only Eoin Morgan and Babar Azam.